Vietnam’s semicon ambition cramped by talent shortage; packaging, design segments hold promise

[HANOI] Vietnam’s growing importance in the global semiconductor supply chain is turning up some gaps, predominantly in the availability of talent. Industry watchers have said the country may be better off focusing its efforts in chip design and packaging, which have lower barriers to entry.

This past week, news broke that the country is hoping to build its first wafer fab. Some industry executives have warned that doing this would be expensive – anywhere from US$10 billion to US$50 billion; others say that talent shortages would hamstring the exercise.

Vietnam’s domestic electronics industry is small, but it is drawing interest from semiconductor companies that are diversifying their production bases beyond China. Major semiconductor players such as Intel and Amkor have built facilities in the country, and are planning to do more.